I keep going back and looking at this page. And I keep finding new details. The holographic police lines are a particularly nice touch and I think the APCs are very cool. Continuing the tour, we see the two different types of CSC Security forces; the more lightly equipped police and the armored Shock Troops. There’s even a feral dog. Who doesn’t love feral dogs? Kinda gives Sub-Dome 4 a nice Detroit feel.

In any case, someone is in trouble.

For this week’s music, it’s hard to argue with the artist, who explains his choice:

I strongly suggest the song ‘Thela Hun Ginjeet’ from King Crimson’s album Discipline as the coupling for this. It’s got a very rocker atmosphere, very frantic and with a background narration by Adrian Belew speaking of how he was assaulted by some smuggling Rastafarians in a neighborhood whilst he recorded a tape for the band. It actually repeats “It’s a dangerous place” many times, which I think fits our page here.

Personally, all I can think of when I look at this is ‘Clampdown’ by The Clash. “What are we gonna do now?”

Well, happy October. Best month, in my opinion. We hope to have some news to share shortly on a few Sisters Grimm developments, so stay tuned.

It’s funny, at first I wondered about why it was raining inside the dome. But the fact is, megastructures like a Mars dome would generate their own internal weather patterns – all those people breathing and sweating, it’d rise up, condense, and then fall again. Man, that rain would be particularly stinky, too. A really nice “Blade Runnery” feel to this one!

I’ve discovered your comic today and the artwork is very impressive. High quality for today’s half-assed world.

My concern, and I’m sure I’ll take some flak for this, is: in this beautifully rendered world full of imagery, imagination, and detail, each weekly update seems to be lacking in substance. The story, while given background and atmosphere in the world, is very barren and feels like it relies heavily on the tales that the drawings themselves tell. Hell, the “write-up” for each week’s comment has far more substance than the strip itself! Were I coming to this comic when it was first released, I’d probably have lost interest by this point, because it seems that after several months, the story has progressed by perhaps two days to a week.

Again, I’m sure many will disagree with me, and that’s fine, that’s your prerogative. I’ve never written any webcomics or done any of the work towards what you’ve done here, and so I can only speak as a reader. Also, I don’t know your history behind this comic and I haven’t read past page 12 yet, so maybe this issue is corrected as the months go by. But I think it’s a shame to create this gorgeous world and then hold back on the substance of the story.

ChaosMonk,
Well, I certainly can’t tell you your opinion isn’t valid- it’s your opinion. And I always appreciate feedback, of any kind. All I can say, though, is that a webcomic has certain challenges that a printed comic doesn’t. For example, you’ve read twelve pages. Now, that’s about half of a regular printed monthly comic. And in that span we’ve gone from a show in a dive-bar, to a practice space, to a secret poker game, to a police raid. And all stops in between. We’ve introduced our three heroines, the band, and even some minor characters. So, in my opinion, we’ve managed to fill these first twelve pages with some important set-up. You see what I mean? You have an obligation to your characters to give them a proper intro.

I’d also ask if you’ve read the pages of background material and net ‘casts? Obviously, the main weekly update is the heart and soul of the comic, but the orbiting bodies, like the background pages, are no less a part of this webcomic and I would say they help make our website unique. They fill in information, provide hints and connections, and even move the story along. So I would try and disuade anyone from neglecting these pages. The overall ‘Free Mars’ experience sort of depends on these additional updates.

So, don’t hold back with any criticism. Like I said, we love to hear opinions of any stripe. And I hope you keep reading!
Dave

Hi Dave,
I haven’t read any of the extra material, no. I can see what you’re saying, in that a printed comic doesn’t have the option of “satellite” publications that are easily accessible components of the core experience. It’s an interesting way to approach storyline development. I haven’t read a lot of webcomics that are out there, so I don’t know if this system is catching on elsewhere or not, but as an “old school” reader, I’m more used to having the comic itself tell the story and not having to access several other pages of background. Maybe my attention span isn’t the same as what’s being produced out there these days.